We are very fortunate to be expanding our global Rotary connections. Last week we were pleased to hear from William Jones from the French Rotary Club de Jarnac, both their unique initiatives and their similarities to our own activities translated to the French perspective.
It is now only a short time before the arrival of Jaako and Helena Panulka from the Kauhajoki Rotary Club of Finland on March 10 before they join us at Conference on 13 March and at our regular meeting on March 17th.
On that note, the program for the Conference in Northam is looking very interesting and I encourage Rotarians, if not already completed, to consider a registration.
Marilyn and Fiona, from the Scout Heritage Centre in Kenwick were our guest speakers on Tuesday. They have around 60 years of scouting experience between them, with Marilyn still being an active Joey leader.
Members learnt about the history of the scouting movement which Lt-Gen Robert Baden-Powell founded in 1907.
Baden-Powell wanted to transfer the character, fitness and citizenship methods he had used training military scouts at the Siege of Mafeking during the Boer War to boys everywhere. He wrote the widely read “Scouting for Boys” and his sister Agnes founded the Girl Guides Association.
Baden-Powell travelled widely, encouraging scouting in every country he visited. Scouting started in Australia in 1908 and he came to Australia three times, in 1912, 1931 and the first Australian Jamboree in 1934-35. If you would like to read more about the history of scouting go to: https://scouts.com.au/
Marilyn took over from Fiona this point to challenge us with an interesting puzzle and to bring us up to speed with the modern scouting movement.
Joey Scouts starts from ages 5-7 and children enjoy a range of activities, especially concentrating on the outdoors and nature and embracing the Scout motto of “Be Prepared”. Scout leaders have to work very hard to engage the children in this modern digital age but there is friendship, connection and lots of activities for all age groups.
Some of our members had attended Scouts or Guides in their younger years and as well as being good fun, it had helped their independence, resilience and ability and problem solving.
The Scout Heritage Centre is packed with history, memorabilia, uniforms throughout the ages, scouting tools and crafts, photographs and the cutest teddy bears in handmade scout uniforms complete with badges.
Unfortunately I was away when he addressed our meeting, but, nevertheless, I have just finished reading his excellent book covering his many years in public life, including the early days of politics and Premiership and the helicon days of WA Inc. and beyond.
Some of those names well known to WA at the time certainly left their mark on our world ... some for the better and some for the worse. It does make interesting reading to better understand just what was going on behind the scenes with some of those deals being done! Certainly 'Burkie' was left with many nasty legal battles and outcomes from these years of his political dealings and his courage to stand for the truth must have taken a real toll on his life. The period of incarceration was particularly sad.
Needless to say, he was, and is, a real contributor to success of WA in that period and, by his own words, should go down as one of our most reforming politicians.
Well worth the read, and a 'well done' to our special Guest Speaker!
Membership under Director Adele is in the process of finalising the joint Applecross/Melville RC's District Grant to work alongside the MCCoC and promote the benefits of Rotary to business in our community. Attadale is also keen to be involved.
Along side this, the Rotary Community Group lead by David Barton is in the process of developing the 'Rotary Means Business' relationship with the Chamber, and this will involve a much broader Rotary and general community engagement. More to follow on this.
We can expect to be involved, again with Melville and Attadale, in the likely development of a community storage facility on the Scout site soon to be redeveloped just off Canning Highway/Riseley St in Applecross.
Llew Withers is behind this and it could prove to be the long term solution for the storage of the significant assets belonging to the 3 RC's. As you would be aware we have an extensive asset register stored at no cost in Greg Brindle's McCoy St unit, but this will not be available long term due to likely redevelopment plans for the site.
At last Tuesday’s meeting, our Rotarian guest William Jones had us in fits of laughter when without any warning, he leapt to his feet and performed “head knees and toes” with great gusto. He said he was reminded of the energetic tune when we played two-up and the coin tosser was calling “two heads” or “one of each”.
William then entertained us with a condensed life history and how he came to be in Perth and able to attend our meeting.
One of his daughters lives here in Perth with her husband and 14-year-old identical twin sons and it gives William and his wife an ideal excuse to holiday here during our summer, when it is cold and wet at home.
Home for William is Jarnac in France, a town of 4500 people which is close to Cognac.
William is a member of the local Rotary there, which has 15 active members with an average age of 65.
President Margaret and William exchanged Rotary Club banners, but William’s was a paper photocopy because he had forgotten to bring the real thing along.
We hope that will be one reason for William to come along to another meeting. He had so much to tell us and showed excellent slides of Jarnac and his club’s activities around the town. William is a wonderful example of an international Rotarian and the connection that we feel to fellow Rotarians around the world.
A huge thank you to Barry and Margaret Mendelawitz for their generous support in storing the club’s BBQ trailer in their home garage for many years. Their long-term assistance has been invaluable.
We are also very grateful that Tom and Bridget Atkinson have now stepped up to provide a new storage location for the trailer.
In addition, Kenn and Peta Williams stored club assets in their storage unit for many years until a couple of years ago, and we are fortunate that Greg Brindle (GOOD Grocer) came to our rescue by providing storage space at his McCoy Street warehouse.
These contributions are a great example of the quiet, behind-the-scenes support our members and friends provide to keep the club running smoothly.
The upcoming Perth Makers Market on 1 March, which also marks the 10‑year anniversary of this important fundraising event for our club. We are still in need of additional volunteers. If you are able to assist in any way, please contact Lorri.
Additional support for pack‑up would be greatly appreciated, as the current team will already have had a long day in the field.
Roster will be sent out after tomorrow's breakfast meeting.
Time's running out to register for the Up Up and Away Conference in Northam from 13 - 15 March 2026. It's getting close to crunch time to confirm numbers so we can make sure we have enough food and other items for everyone. We have a great line-up of speakers, some of whom are listed in this edition of the Roundup, so don't miss out. REGISTER NOW PLEASE!
Here's the registration link if you've forgotten to register or have been too busy to get around to it. Click here to watch the promo video.
Joshua Patrick is on the speaker's list for conference. Ian Fairnie commented on the folowing linkedin post from Josh saying "Looking forward to seeing you at the Rotary District Conference very much, and your presentation on the Sunday morning. Please challenge Rotary to focus on the needs of young carers and support them as they prepare for a life of service to the community". Josh was our guest speaker in February 2025. Click here for his presentation.
Today, I leave home. I leave the regional town that has shaped me - the quiet streets, the safe neighbourhood, the open spaces of my regional home town. I leave the house where we've experienced our hardest days and our most sacred moments. And I step away from the caring role that has shaped so much of who I am, to begin my Medicine studies at The University of Western Australia. Click here for Josh's full Linkedin post.
In autumn each year South of Perth Yacht Club host “Cruising Butterflies” to take children with life-long health issues onto the Swan River on members boats to enjoy a morning of fun on the water. This is a partnership with
Kiind (a support organization from Perth Children’s Hospital) and sponsors including Applecross and Melville Rotary Clubs.
Kiind invite about 150 children along with their parents, siblings and carers to attend this special day for the children that also gives their families a short respite from the 24-hour a day caring duty.
After the morning on the water there will be a sausage sizzle lunch, live entertainment and special guests and events. The day will wind up early in the afternoon.
Applecross Rotary, as in previous years, have been tasked with the BBQ duties, cooking and serving sausages in a bun (supplied by SoPYC) and to organize car parking, both inside SoPYC and on the Heathcote Lower Land. We have been asked to bring our Rotary branded marquees to hold the registration and welcome desks and to also bring along our Rotary banners.
We will need a team of at least 6-8 for the BBQ (10.00am to 1.00pm), 7- 8 for parking (7.30am to 9.00am) and several for set up and pull down of our infrastructure.
Please note the date and watch out for the roster so that you can volunteer.
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At last Tuesday’s meeting, our Rotarian guest William Jones had us in fits of laughter when without any warning, he leapt to his feet and performed “head knees and toes” with great gusto. He said he was reminded of the energetic tune when we played two-up and the coin tosser was calling “two heads” or “one of each”.
